Therapists’ experiences and perceptions of teamwork in neurological rehabilitation: Critical happenings in effective and ineffective teamwork

This article reports the second part of an exploratory study into occupational therapists` and physiotherapists` perceptions and experiences of team-work in neurological rehabilitation: the factors that were thought to influence effective and ineffective team-work, and the meaning behind effective and ineffective team work in neurological rehabilitation. The study was undertaken through semi-structured interviews of 10 therapists from three different neurological rehabilitation teams based in the United Kingdom, and used the critical incident technique. Through analysis of the data, several main themes emerged regarding the perceived critical happenings in effective and ineffective team work. These were: team events and characteristics, team members` characteristics, shared and collaborative working practices, communication, specific organisational structures, environmental, external, and patient and family related factors. Effective and ineffective team-work was perceived to impact on a number of levels: having implications for the team, the patient, individual team members, and the neurological rehabilitation service. The study supported the perceived value of team work within neurological rehabilitation. It also indicated the extensive and variable factors that may influence the team working process as well as the complex and diverse nature of the process

Licensing Paralegals to Practice Law: A Path Toward Bridging the Justice Gap in Minnesota

There are few legal avenues for low-income and other marginalized groups in the United States to seek civil justice. A lack of legal assistance in civil issues can be detrimental to a person’s health and wellbeing. Given this reality, the legal profession must broaden its capacity to serve these needs, and one path is to embrace the aid of paralegals. In 2016, the legal community of Minnesota had conversations about whether the state should provide limited licenses to paralegals. To study models from across the country, the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) formed the Alternative Legal Models Task Force. In 2017, the Task Force released its recommendations on how Minnesota should address paralegal licensure. When the report was introduced for MSBA adoption, reservations remained, and the Board of Governors decided, at least for the time being, not to pursue developing a model rule. This decision by the MSBA leaves open the question of how paralegals could help close the civil justice gap in Minnesota. Minnesota should license paralegals to practice law in a limited scope to diversify legal service delivery. To illustrate, this article provides an overview of Minnesota’s historical attempts to mitigate the justice gap, examines ways paralegals have been licensed in other jurisdictions, and ultimately affirms the recommendation of the Alternative Legal Models Task Force that Minnesota should license paralegals to provide a limited scope of legal services to complement access to justice efforts, similar to nurse practitioners in the medical profession. To propel the legal profession forward, paralegal practitioners would augment existing services and bridge the justice gap across a growing divide

Facilitating Change: Examining Honors Students’ Perceptions of Learning Facilitation Techniques

Despite advancements in global communication and interpersonal networks, in-person discussions and scholarly discourses often falter in the classroom—stifling innovation and preventing opportunities to foster deeper human connection. This study explores the remedy of facilitation: the art and science of enabling a group to unleash its creativity, address conflict, and unlock collective wisdom. Authors present a variety of facilitation techniques used in teaching honors students (n = 13) and closely examine how students articulate their personal learning outcomes after practicing effective facilitations. Liberating structures, which engage everyone in problem-solving, practicing self-discovery, and envisioning potential solutions, are used. Reflective assessments indicate student growth and skill development, including flexibility, adaptability, and communicative agility. With honors programs and colleges as loci for multidisciplinary learning and holistic leadership development, authors encourage practitioners to take active roles in fostering the next generation of facilitators. Ideas for future curricular adaptations are presented

Carbon Abatement and Emissions Associated with the Gasification of Walnut Shells for Bioenergy and Biochar Production

By converting biomass residue to biochar, we could generate power cleanly and sequester carbon resulting in overall greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) savings when compared to typical fossil fuel usage and waste disposal. We estimated the carbon dioxide (CO2) abatements and emissions associated to the concurrent production of bioenergy and biochar through biomass gasification in an organic walnut farm and processing facility in California, USA. We accounted for (i) avoided-CO2 emissions from displaced grid electricity by bioenergy; (ii) CO2 emissions from farm machinery used for soil amendment of biochar; (iii) CO2 sequestered in the soil through stable biochar-C; and (iv) direct CO2 and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soil. The objective of these assessments was to pinpoint where the largest C offsets can be expected in the bioenergy-biochar chain. We found that energy production from gasification resulted in 91.8% of total C offsets, followed by stable biochar-C (8.2% of total C sinks), offsetting a total of 107.7 kg CO2-C eq Mg-1 feedstock. At the field scale, we monitored gas fluxes from soils for 29 months (180 individual observations) following field management and precipitation events in addition to weekly measurements within three growing seasons and two tree dormancy periods. We compared four treatments: control, biochar, compost, and biochar combined with compost. Biochar alone or in combination with compost did not alter total N2O and CO2 emissions from soils, indicating that under the conditions of this study, biochar-prompted C offsets may not be expected from the mitigation of direct soil GHG emissions. However, this study revealed a case where a large environmental benefit was given by the waste-to-bioenergy treatment, addressing farm level challenges such as waste management, renewable energy generation, and C sequestration

N2O emissions from California farmlands: A review

Of the greenhouse gases emitted from cropland, nitrous oxide (N2O) has the highest global warming potential. The state of California acknowledges that agriculture both contributes to and is affected by climate change, and in 2016 it adopted legislation to help growers reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, explicitly including N2O. Nitrous oxide emissions can vary widely due to environmental and agronomic factors with most emission estimates coming from temperate grain systems. There is, however, a dearth of emission estimates from perennial and vegetable cropping systems commonly found in California\u27s Mediterranean climate. Therefore, emission factors (EFs) specific to California conditions are needed to accurately assess statewide N2O emissions and mitigation options. In this paper, we review 16 studies reporting annual and seasonal N2O emissions. This data set represents all available studies on measured emissions at the whole field scale and on an event basis. Through this series of studies, we discuss how such farm management and environmental factors influence N2O emissions from California agriculture and may serve as a basis for improved EF calculations

Review of research to inform California's climate scoping plan: Agriculture and working lands

Agriculture in California contributes 8% of the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. To inform the state's policy and program strategy to meet climate targets, we review recent research on practices that can reduce emissions, sequester carbon and provide other co-benefits to producers and the environment across agriculture and rangeland systems. Importantly, the research reviewed here was conducted in California and addresses practices in our specific agricultural, socioeconomic and biophysical environment. Farmland conversion and the dairy and intensive livestock sector are the largest contributors to GHG emissions and offer the greatest opportunities for avoided emissions. We also identify a range of other opportunities including soil and nutrient management, integrated and diversified farming systems, rangeland management, and biomass-based energy generation. Additional research to replicate and quantify the emissions reduction or carbon sequestration potential of these practices will strengthen the evidence base for California climate policy